Pontiac GTO.R Homestead test notes 2005-01-03

New Pontiac Race Car Hits the Track in Florida
Successful test for GTO.R at Homestead-Miami Speedway
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- GM put its new Pontiac GTO.R race car through its
paces at the Homestead-Miami Speedway recently, rigorously testing the
car...

New Pontiac Race Car Hits the Track in Florida
Successful test for GTO.R at Homestead-Miami Speedway

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- GM put its new Pontiac GTO.R race car through its
paces at the Homestead-Miami Speedway recently, rigorously testing the
car on the track's high speed straights, banks and twisting infield
course. This was the first time Pontiac tested the freshly built car, and
this site is one of many where it will compete next year in the Grand
American Rolex Sports Car Series. A second GTO.R will soon be built, and
both cars will debut in the series mid-season in 2005.

The two production-based GTO.R race cars will employ new 6.0-liter LS2
engines with only slight modifications to the exhaust and intake with the
addition of a dry-sump oil system and competition camshaft. Its output
has been bumped to a Grand-Am-mandated 450 horsepower from the road
car's 400, and body panels are composite copies of the steel
originals (with the exception of fender flares) fixed to a tube-frame
chassis. Brakes, suspension and other running gear consist of aftermarket
parts that are currently available for purchase for racing use.

"This is a very exciting milestone for Pontiac," said
Mark-Hans Richer, marketing manager for Pontiac. "Pontiac has
already been successful in the Daytona Prototype class of the Grand
American Rolex Sports Car Series, winning the 2004 Engine Manufacturers
Championship. Racing the GTO.R in the GT class is a natural next step.
The original GTO built its reputation on competition success and we are
sure that the 2005 GTO.R will do the same."

An affordable, race-winning package will be developed from experience
gained during the 2005 season and GTO.R race cars will be offered for
sale to independent teams for campaigning in 2006. GM Racing will
provide comprehensive technical support to those teams.

Jan Magnussen, Paul Edwards and Ron Fellows, three of GM Racing's
top road-racing drivers, all drove the GTO.R during the recent test in
Miami. Magnussen and Edwards, who did most of the track driving at the
test, will continue to work with GM in an ongoing testing and development
program.

Veteran driver and Danish native Magnussen, 31, won the Le Mans GTS and
Petit Le Mans GTS classes this year in a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R and has
a long and successful motorsport driving career, including two seasons in
the late '90s with the Stewart Grand Prix team in Formula One.
Edwards, a 26-year-old American with a formidable open-wheel career in
Europe, won the Formula Palmer Audi Winter Series of 1999 as well as the
Formula Opel Winter Series the year before.

"Pontiac and GM Racing have put a lot of effort into this car and
it was encouraging that the hard work paid off with a fast, reliable
test," said Edwards. "The car responded very well to the
changes we made to it, it's pretty forgiving to drive and we made
steady progress over the two days. I'm glad I was one of the first
drivers to try it out -- it's going to be a great race
car."

Announcements of GTO.R race teams and drivers will be made in the first
quarter of 2005.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest vehicle
manufacturer, employs about 325,000 people globally. Founded in 1908, GM
has been the global automotive sales leader since 1931. GM today has
manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 192
countries. In 2003, GM sold nearly 8.6 million cars and trucks, about 15
percent of the global vehicle market. GM's global headquarters is at the
GM Renaissance Center in Detroit. More information on GM and its products
can be found on the company's consumer website at www.gm.com.